Well I hope you’re right. I’m not holding my breath!
Ed seems surprisingly sentimental and emotional for an investment banker, at least in the football side. It would be better if he were a more typical one - a dispassionate ruthless cnut
Man Utd set to appoint Director of Football (when hell freezes over)
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Ed seems surprisingly sentimental and emotional for an investment banker, at least in the football side. It would be better if he were a more typical one - a dispassionate ruthless cnut
I can think of lots of people who can't string a sentence together yet are incredibly successful at what they do.
I can also think of plenty of former footballers who have become sporting directors, managers, coaches with no experience but have got there because of their experience/knowledge in the game as a player.
Rio Ferdinand not being good enough for the job because he's never been a sporting director or is not "able to string a sentence together" is an incredibly lazy argument to be honest.
Excellent. Then head hunt Overmars as United's CEO of Football !
Is the sanest thing I've ever read from anyone in this forum. In successful businesses, successful people get promoted to the top. Rio does not have managerial, coaching, scouting, writing contract experience.
Extended his contract at Ajax to 2024 this month, both him and Van der Sar are staying there long term. Not leaving before they've won a lot of titles.
I am ok with Rio as Sporting Director, I think he could do a great job at identifying targets and he is well known in the football community, I just feel that Ed is hiring him to be a fall guy for when transfers go wrong. I do not trust Ed's intentions, he does things from a PR perspective not a footballing perspective.
If Ed was serious about getting us back on top, a DOF would be hired months ago and our transfer business would be well underway by now, because we have a lot of work to do this summer. Instead he is letting Herrera's contract run out while offering Jones and Young extensions.
I don’t disagree with that, but until the time comes that the glazers get rid of Ed (because he’s never going to walk!), isn’t it better to have a young intelligent football guy there? Even if he doesn’t have full control he still might have a bigger influence than the status quo?
He did that Prank show once though. Has to give some credentials.
That's pretty absurd - I think Rio comes across very well whenever I see him talking on TV. Perhaps he just doesn't string them together in a way you're comfortable with?
Happy hear that provided United:
1. Hired a head-hunting firm to find our new director of football.
2. Approached the target to offer terms
And
3. Target did not turn the job down because the job role ceeds too much footballing power to board members who aren't football careerists.
I'm happy to hear about board members negotiating new sponsorship & TV deals, etc. Not happy to hear about them telling DoF who must be signed & what contract they get. Because:
What we can tell you is that the average player wages in the Eredivisie are around €277,000 per year. Therefore, the average salary in Dutch football is quite low compared to other leagues and they even earn less than the average player in the English Championship and First division (third highest tier of English football). So here are the AFC Ajax Players Salaries and contract details 2018/19.
So if a team earning a fraction of Spurs player wages (who in turn, earn a fraction of United player wages) can beat Spurs away, shut them out, and win in Holland, then something went seriously wrong with pay peanuts and get monkeys.
Ever since Ole’s got the job I have a feeling all our ex-players are vying for the opportunity to come on-board the united bandwagon and It plays right in the hands of Ed, who amidst all the criticism pointed at him, doesn’t want to lose control. He will be more than happy to bring in ex-players with no education or prior experience of management, as none of them will be in a position to challenge his authority.
I can only hope some sense prevails at BOD level, they remove Ed from CEO position, appoint somebody with both management experience and footballing knowledge as the executive, appoint an experienced person as DoF or Head of recruitment. Ex-players like Rio and Fletcher should be hired only as recruitment and development committee members / consultants for now.
I can only hope some sense prevails at BOD level, they remove Ed from CEO position, appoint somebody with both management experience and footballing knowledge as the executive, appoint an experienced person as DoF or Head of recruitment. Ex-players like Rio and Fletcher should be hired only as recruitment and development committee members / consultants for now.
Or split the CEO role into 2 jobs. CEO of football and CEO of business.
One can only hope. Still, none of the former players have any experience creating a "modern" footballing structure. What should the DoF do, how should we analyze potential player signings, how should the squad look 3 years from now etc.
I think that the only two possible ways that the club are able to find its way back to the top are:
1. Club is sold to owners that wants to win, not only seeing the ownership of this club as a financial asset. If the owners wanted the club to challenge for the EPL/CL then certain people would not have been involved in footballing decisions. We would have modernized the way the footballdepartment operated similar to how some of the more successful teams operates.
2. We appoint a DoF/technical director, the footballdepartment operates autonomous from the rest of the corporation, where the only authority the board/Woodward got is to decide the budget they operate within and the DoF/technical director.
Or we can continue to hope that random appointments, signings etc suddenly works out...
I agree with the young intelligent football guy coming. But that's why I am saying we should then do an extensive interview process. Let's not limit it to our former players. If someone has better ideas with a tangible plan to implement them then give them the chance. It would be even better if they have shown that ability elsewhere so that our expectations are based on something tangible..
My fear with Woodward is that it is evident his appointments are swayed by the wind and the effect of public perception. The cynic in me thinks its done for self preservation. When questioned he can simply turn around and say (or those defending him can say) 'That's what everyone wanted at the time'
I've got nothing against Rio, but if he or another completely inexperienced individual is installed as a technical director this club is making even worse decisions than I thought it was capable of.
edit: and I think we can all stop speculating whether or not we'll get an actual DoF with the relevant remit and executive power. A technical director will be there just to assist Ole but answering fully to Ed and the inbreds.
edit: and I think we can all stop speculating whether or not we'll get an actual DoF with the relevant remit and executive power. A technical director will be there just to assist Ole but answering fully to Ed and the inbreds.
This
Great post. A cash cow to average players evolving into a cash cow to ex players with no experience as non-playing staff.
I think it's also a key reason why ex players haven't gone on to name Woodward and the Glazers as the rotten foundations.
We dont know whats gone on behind the scenes. Woody might have approached half a dozen people to be dof or whatever title and they could have turned us down for a variety of reasons. Maybe they are thinking throw enough ex players from the Fergie era and it might just work
No. First get them to put their ideas into practice to show they work at a smaller club. When the ideas are refined and distilled down to those ideas which all work, demonstrated by success, then give the job to that guy. It is never about ideas, it's about ideas we know work.
Do you honestly believe that candidates for that position would turn it down if it meant they were given adequate authority in a club that has enormous wealth, and if run by competent people can only improve? I don't. It's a dream job.
That's exactly what I said in the sentence after the one you quoted
1) It should not be up to Woody to do that, he should hire a head hunting firm to find people and offer them terms. Here is what we want. Interested?, then we can arrange a meeting with Woody.
2)
it might just work
What is this a £3 billion valued company or Police Academy X? It must work, no ands, ifs, buts, sorrys, try again, about it. It must work because it must have shown itself to have worked elsewhere and succeeded.
There is a reason as for why Neville and Scholes are not among the rumored candidates.
I don't think either of them have name checked Woodward or the Glazers. They've alluded to structure. Neville though has probably been most scathing over the last few years. Wasn't Scholes rumoured to possibly have some role at OT recently?
I think they are the only ones among the former players that are anywhere close to being critical in public regarding anyone at the club excluding the players and manager. And we know who Neville is meaning when he is critisizing the "structure" at the club.
Rest of them are hoping for well paid ambassadorial roles...
Hopefully Neville will start pointing fingers directly at the owners/Woodward... But then he will lose his job.
I've been disappointed in pretty much all of them since the Glazer takeover. Especially once they've retired from the game. Like you say, Neville is the one who has come closest to uttering those words, I don't think Sky would remove him form his job as he is probably their most liked pundit.
You're assuming Phelan wants to be a coach still. He's only accepted the assistant manager job here for now as a favour to Ole/SAF.
"Gentlemens agreement" to not say how bad it actually is?
Not to sound to conspiratorial, but i guess JM got some £££ for keeping quiet about the sh*tshow behind the scenes at the club, the same with a number of former players/employees.
100% Jose got the pay-off he wanted and therefore only mentioned structure. But for those who actually love the club, support the team, live in and around Manchester, it's sad to see.
@TimesSport: @hirstclass Solskjaer would like Mike Phelan to fill the role, but Woodward would prefer someone who has links with the club or is aware of its traditions and culture, and has spoken to former players such as Vidic and Ferdinand https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/...director-and-who-might-take-the-job-6xzqjds0p
Steve Coppell, Degree in Economics, ex player, previous management experience with a number of clubs, had limited success, has had experience of being a DOF., with two clubs and at present managing in the Indian Super League.
Very confusing. The way this is written it's as if Woodward doesn't know Mike Phelan has a previous connection to the club. I guess being involved with the club for 30+ years isn't enough of a connection?
That makes no sense as a reason to potentially dismiss Phelan.
Who Art Thou among our former players/coaches that will be our Jeanne d'Arc, our Jesus, our Snowden, that sacrifices their potential future $$$ benefits from the club for speaking the truth? Thus creating our own Sermon on the Mount that teaches the average fan that the club they support is basically a scheme to fill the pockets of the owners, and the only ones that does not get a piece of the cake are them? (They are the cake)
I'm not surprised if Ed doesn't know Phelan is an ex-United player.
Exactly. Hilarious if true
No one. I thought Keane, but I read his 2nd book and he said he had no problem with the Glazers.
This article again says that there'll be a transfer committee rather than one person getting an all the say. Bout, Mortough and Lawlor to be a part of it.
OGS was critical of the Glazers at the beginning, and supported MUST. Now he seems to have gone over to the dark side. Or maybe he is naive and thinks that he will be able to change it from within.
Who knows. I for one, wonder how long time it will take for the club to detoriate to such an extent that the incompentence at the club are causing more damage financially than the financial growth in football as a sport can offset.
I hate the way our club is run, the media and rival fans are having a field day, I don’t get what the difference would if Micky was assistant coach or technical director. I’d personally give it to rio
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